China's Green Grid: How Changzhou Is Setting the Standard for Microgrids

CHANGZHOU, China – January 16, 2026 – In a move signaling a major push towards energy resilience and sustainability, leaders from across China's power sector gathered in Changzhou this week to forge a unified path for the future of microgrids. The "Microgrid Standards Enter Enterprises" Matching Conference, held on January 15 and hosted by the influential China Electricity Council (CEC), brought together over 80 government officials, industry experts, and corporate representatives to tackle one of the biggest hurdles to widespread green energy adoption: standardization.

The event aims to bridge the gap between high-level policy and on-the-ground implementation, creating a standardized framework that could accelerate the deployment of localized, independent power systems across the nation. As China's microgrid market is projected to surge from approximately $7 billion in 2023 to over $24 billion by 2030, the push for common rules and protocols is seen as critical for unlocking this potential and moving beyond scattered pilot projects to large-scale, interconnected networks.

Changzhou's Blueprint for a "New Energy Capital"

At the heart of this national conversation is Changzhou itself. The city has aggressively positioned itself as China's "capital of new energy," not just through manufacturing prowess but through ambitious implementation. The Changzhou Development and Reform Commission showcased the city's progress, revealing a detailed strategy that has already yielded tangible results. This strategy is formalized in the "Three-Year Action Plan for Accelerating the Construction of a New Energy System in Changzhou (2025-2027)," which sets a clear target of establishing 300 distinct microgrid projects by the end of 2027.

This isn't just a paper-based ambition. Changzhou has rolled out the first municipal-level microgrid support policies in Jiangsu Province, creating a concrete roadmap for development. This proactive stance is transforming the city into a living laboratory for new energy applications. At the conference, officials detailed how these efforts are being applied to diverse scenarios, from powering tourist attractions and greening manufacturing plants to creating intelligent energy ecosystems in sprawling industrial parks. This regional blueprint, focused on creating replicable models, is designed to serve as a national template for integrating renewable energy into the economic fabric of a city.

From Tourist Hotspots to Factory Floors

Changzhou’s strategy comes to life in its diverse and innovative microgrid projects. One of the flagship examples is the Global Dinosaur City Super Charging Flagship Station, a project that merges green energy with cultural tourism. By integrating large-scale photovoltaic canopies, megawatt-level battery storage, and advanced Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) facilities, the station provides ultra-fast 15-minute charging for electric vehicles while operating with a high degree of energy independence.

In the industrial sector, the intelligent manufacturing microgrid developed by Changzhou Borui Electric Power demonstrates a different but equally vital application. Centered on a combination of solar power, energy storage, and sophisticated energy and carbon management software, the system delivers customized low-carbon power solutions for factories, reducing their reliance on the main grid and lowering their carbon footprint.

Perhaps the most comprehensive model is the microgrid at the Wujin National High-tech Zone Innovation Industrial Park. Covering an energy supply area of 370,000 square meters, it is the largest industrial park-level microgrid in Jiangsu Province. The system integrates 1.61 megawatts of distributed solar panels with a massive 10,660 kWh energy storage system. An AI-driven management platform predicts energy demand and optimizes power flow, providing stable green energy to offices, workshops, and EV chargers. For businesses within the park, the results are significant: a reported 23% reduction in energy costs and an annual decrease of over 1,660 tons in carbon dioxide emissions. This project’s success provides a powerful, replicable model that is directly informing the development of national standards for industrial park microgrids.

The Digital Backbone: Virtual Power Plants

Connecting these disparate energy islands and integrating them into a cohesive, responsive system is the next frontier, a challenge being tackled by State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company through the use of Virtual Power Plants (VPPs). A VPP is a cloud-based distributed power plant that aggregates the capacities of various Distributed Energy Resources (DERs)—like microgrids, solar panels, and EV charging stations—to create a single, reliable power source.

At the conference, State Grid shared its practical experience in using VPPs to manage these resources, allowing them to interact with the main grid dynamically. In 2024, the utility built the first municipal-level VPP management center in Jiangsu Province, designed to bring thousands of scattered assets under "unified management through one network." This digital backbone not only enhances grid stability but also creates new economic opportunities, allowing enterprises to participate in energy markets by selling excess power or reducing consumption on demand.

To further streamline this process, the power supply company developed an "I Want to Build a Microgrid" digital system, an online service that provides potential users with customized construction solutions and technical guidance, simplifying the path from initial interest to a fully operational microgrid.

Standardizing a Revolution

The ultimate goal of the conference was to create a feedback loop between innovators and regulators. Representatives from ten key enterprises detailed the technical bottlenecks and standard-related demands they face in daily operations, providing crucial real-world data for policymakers.

Pan Yuelong, Supervisor General of the China Electricity Council, affirmed the CEC's commitment to this collaborative process. He stated that the council will "continuously improve the microgrid standard system, strengthen the promotion and implementation of standards, and promote the formation of a virtuous cycle of 'standards leading innovation, innovation supporting industry, and industry feeding back standards'."

This collaborative approach is essential to overcoming the primary challenges facing the sector, including inconsistent technical protocols and immature market mechanisms. By bringing all stakeholders to the table, Changzhou is helping to write the rulebook for China's next energy chapter.

As a representative from State Grid Changzhou Power Supply Company noted, the event successfully built "a bridge for precise docking between the standard supply side and the industrial demand side." The utility pledged to continue promoting the deep integration of standard implementation with technological innovation, aiming to lead the microgrid industry into a new era of standardized, large-scale development built upon a foundation of high standards.